Herm Edwards Comes Through For The Bucs
April 29th, 2022
Bucs RB Rachaad White.
How much was Herm Edwards involved?
So the newest Bucs running back, third-round draft pick Rachaad White, is from Arizona State. For those who are unaware, Edwards is the head coach there. Joe has to wonder if there was a connection? Joe knows Herm still has fond memories of coaching with the Bucs and, of course, he is very, very tight with John Lynch,
Those who listen to JoeBucsFan.com draft guru Sean Sullivan’s “Best in Class” podcast know Sean is a big Rachaad White fan.
Dane Brugler apparently is not. In his mammoth draft guide “The Beast,” Brugler has White as a fifth-round draft pick and his 12th overall running back in the draft.
SUMMARY: A two-year starter at Arizona State, White was the featured back in offensive coordinator Zak Hill’s scheme. From Division II to junior college to Tempe, he took a winding journey to the NFL’s doorstep, but he bet on his talent and work ethic and averaged 6.4 yards per carry during the past two seasons as the Sun Devils’ leading rusher. White out-leverages pursuit with his lateral agility and decision-making on the move, which allows him to create chunk plays despite his average top-end speed. Though he needs to improve in pass protection, he is a dependable pass-catcher with tracking skills and body control. Overall, White will leave some production on the field, but his explosive darting run style allows him to collect his feet and find yardage that wasn’t blocked for him. He projects as a backup capable of steady NFL playing time.
Couple of interesting items about White: He ran a 4.48 in the 40 and he averaged 6.3 yards a carry at ASU.
April 29th, 2022 at 11:08 pm
Can he return kicks or punts?
April 29th, 2022 at 11:10 pm
@joebucsfan please tell us the truth, but you happy with what the Bucs did and didn’t do ?
First, there’s no need to ask Joe to tell the truth. Second, it’s the draft. There are no sure things. Certainly not picking late in the rounds. Your answers will come soon. Joe is not going to pretend to have studied players from Houston, Central Michigan and Arizona State, the schools from which the Bucs’ first three picks were taken. Yes, Joe absolutely thinks any or all of these players can make an impact. It’s just as possible that they will be buried on the bench this season.–Joe
I think they overreached and have Tom for one more season and didn’t address the biggest problem on the team to make a run at another ring and that’s the defense. Do you see one player they drafted making an impact or one player being a starter on this team ? I would love to hear your response brother because I’m shocked they passed on Booth, Georgia players, Robinson, and others. I’m shocked and extremely disappointed
April 29th, 2022 at 11:11 pm
Would have taken a LB or def tackle from Oklahoma!
April 29th, 2022 at 11:12 pm
White just became our fastest RB……
April 29th, 2022 at 11:13 pm
Sorry to beat a dead horse but this guy would have been avail next round at same late pick
Is arians encouraging licht to drink in this years draft ?
April 29th, 2022 at 11:14 pm
Very leveon bell with upright running and size w studder step
April 29th, 2022 at 11:14 pm
I need to see more but those highlights are fabulous. When he hesitates and picks his lane, he is accelerating extremely well. Reminded me of some Emmitt Smith. No, I’m not saying he’s Emmitt or Emmett or however he spelled that…just his quickness in tight spaces looks more than legitimate.
I really liked seeing how he sets up his blockers. The screen pass touchdown saw him really utilize the BUs in front of him.
I was indifferent immediately on this pick but after a little look under the hood, I’m intrigued.
April 29th, 2022 at 11:16 pm
Remember that he’s playing against the same PAC-12 competition that makes any running back look awesome. How would he have done in the SEC?
April 29th, 2022 at 11:18 pm
Maybe Bowles isn’t sold on Vaughn.
April 29th, 2022 at 11:19 pm
This draft is garbage
April 29th, 2022 at 11:22 pm
Licht is great at the draft … except RBs. He sucks at RBs and this one looks like all the others.
April 29th, 2022 at 11:22 pm
I like bigger backs….and I like this kids tape! Got some power and nifty moves!
April 29th, 2022 at 11:25 pm
There’s another highlight I watched that a bit longer, and his tape is pretty good. As a pass catching RB, I can see why they’d like him.
But I hate drafting yet another RB in the 3rd. You can find RB’s everywhere, our starting RB right now was free in terms of draft cost. This also means 3rd rounder Vaughn is likely gone unless this guy ends up booting Geno off the team.
Weak as a pass protector, if that’s true, then that means he’s not playing with Brady. So he’ll have to get that cleaned up.
April 29th, 2022 at 11:28 pm
His interview was impressive. He said he is a Football Junkie!
He has a child, and seems to have his head screwed on right.
He is faster than either ROJO or Lenny, and according to Sean Sullivan, was a wide receiver, so we know he has good hands!
April 29th, 2022 at 11:31 pm
Shoulda taken Dameon Pierce in the 4th!
Screenshot this!
April 29th, 2022 at 11:31 pm
I mean our track record with running backs has been…………………………………………………………………………….could we just not? we paid one we have another under contract. thought this draft was good til this pick.
April 29th, 2022 at 11:31 pm
TBBF
He hasn’t stepped in the door of OBP much less an NFL field. If you wanna consider game speed and not the 40 yard dash, Vaughn ability to explode through the middle and break away is definitely the fastest. Vaughn broke records at Illinois and Vanderbilt and he was a third round pick. Now they spend a third round pick on this guy when we obviously need defensive depth??? Sounds soggy but gotta keep the faith.
April 29th, 2022 at 11:31 pm
From watching a couple of different highlights…
He’s got very good vision, which is a huge issue with RBs, he’s not Michael Pittman just running into the back of his offensive lineman on each play.
The Bucs will need to break him of trying to hurtle everyone, he’s going to get himself killed doing that in the pros.
His useable speed is good.
His run style, I read as ‘slow-and-go’, as being a bad thing – I disagree and would say he’s a patient runner.
Seems to lack burst/explosion, but is still productive. This is not a huge negative to be clear, lots of top RBs don’t have that instant burst/explosion I’m talking about.
BIGGEST thing however is that he looks completely natural catching the ball, seems to catch the ball and move in one motion, which is the sign of a really good pass catcher.
I don’t like taking RB’s when you can get them for free, but unlike the Vaughn pick that seemed out of nowhere, and where you had to go back a couple of years to see any decent tape, White’s tape is very good. If he can pass block, he’ll likely be the 3rd down back, and will likely be pretty productive.
April 29th, 2022 at 11:45 pm
Everyone all upset about the draft picks… Relax, have a drink. 60% of everyone you saw picked are going to be busts. The Bucs did not lose out on all these great players.
Before the draft everyone assumed in the first four rounds they’re going to take, In no particular order-
D line
O line
RB or WR
DB
That is what they have done. They took players they had high on their board and filled needs.
Did they do great, average or horrible? We won’t know for a few years
April 29th, 2022 at 11:45 pm
After watching more video I will say that despite a highlight video’s capacity to be misleading, the scouts who ding White for going down on first contact are out of their freaking minds. His highlights demonstrate two things…
1. He will power through players with shoulder pads square. Arm tackles time after time did little to slow him down and that’s assuming they even got a hand on him.
2. Which brings two, and the point is that he is shifty and quick in short bursts and tight spaces to the end result that the first contact is often 5+ yards downfield.
April 29th, 2022 at 11:47 pm
Munch
Good breakdown. You’re right, the tape does look very good. He doesn’t have top end speed that is elite but he is plenty fast enough. And not hurtling so much is exactly what I thought when I heard that he does. Good way to get injured
April 29th, 2022 at 11:49 pm
I really hope they take a corner here in the 4th round. Jalyn Davis from Bama or McCollum.
April 29th, 2022 at 11:55 pm
Watch the video. This guy has the shakes and some speed, and he catches. I see no reason to be skeptical unless your the standard run-of-the-mill Licht hater or armchair draft know-it-all. Jeezus people, he’s a part of the team. Watch the film and open yer phouecking mind.
April 30th, 2022 at 12:01 am
*you’re
April 30th, 2022 at 12:03 am
WVBuc – Yeah, his speed is perfectly fine for an NFL running back, it should not be an issue. Like you said he doesn’t have that instant burst, like say Warrick Dunn did, but he seems to have a very good second move, sort of how you’re saying. I think it’s part of him having excellent vision.
David – Thanks.
sasquatch – If you search for it, there’s a second highlight video that’s a little longer that I think better shows off his ability. He looks like he could be a good 3rd down NFL RB, but might be a good starter as well.
April 30th, 2022 at 12:13 am
I’m bummed, hoped to to see Booth and/or McBride
April 30th, 2022 at 12:15 am
Beeej they can still grab a corner. Jalyn davis i feel is somewhat of a sleeper.
April 30th, 2022 at 12:44 am
seems like another 10 lbs and he could be hard to stop
April 30th, 2022 at 12:51 am
“Watch the tape” ? These highlight reels only show the best of a guy never anything negative like a drop, fumble, blown blocking assignment etc. The point isn’t if he good in the Pac10 but if we need him now. We have Lenny on a 3 year deal and really needed to give Vaughan a chance this year. RB is not a position of need in 2022. Where a prospect played is important cause just because you’re the big fish in a small pond doesn’t mean you can swim with dolphins. The Bucs could have gotten a DL starter on a National Championship team but chose to take a player from a conference that couldn’t get an invite to the playoff with an undefeated season. You need to quit being mindless sycophants and compare apples to apples not apples to grapes.
April 30th, 2022 at 1:21 am
I never like taking Pac12 RB’s…Pac12 DEF are historically soft…So, you really don’t know what your getting, or what your seeing on tape.
Put ASU against a full the SEC or Big Ten schedule….No way White avg. 6+ yds a game or hits 1K for a season.
April 30th, 2022 at 1:50 am
His tape looks awesome, hope no one forgot how good sneak Vaughn’s tape looked, these guys practice running fast 40 times. 2nd & 3rd round picks will battle it out for playing time. Not as excited about this draft but can’t pretend to know much about them so shouldn’t be as disappointed as I seem to be. Go Bucs no choice but to expect home runs
April 30th, 2022 at 2:23 am
WVBuc,
Great minds think alike. I was also thinking of Emmitt Smith watching this guy’s highlights. He has a very similar run style where he’s patient and can sideways hop step to get a few more yards (or break loose). He seems to have really good vision.
This is exactly what Emmitt such a great runner. And for those saying he doesn’t have top-end speed, White ran a 4.48 40-time at the combine. Emmitt was clocked at 4.55. So “top-end speed” isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be.
Ronald Jones has elite top-end speed, yet look at his overall PRODUCTION. It’s not great. It’s not always about speed, and as someone pointed out, it’s similar to Leveon Bell. His 40-time was in the 4.6 range. Derrick Henry? 4.54.
So who cares about this “top-end” speed stuff? White ran a sub-4.5 which is plenty fast. I’ll take good vision & elusiveness over speed.
April 30th, 2022 at 2:29 am
Keyshawn Vaughn was an SEC RB. Yes Vanderbilt is in the SEC. He had pretty decent numbers too.
I wouldn’t dog this kid just because he’s not an SEC back. Adrian Peterson is one of the best running backs of all time and he was big 12. Where did Barry Sanders go to school? Less about what conference he played in and more about his production. 6.4 avg?!!! 4.48 speed? I’ll take that. Looks like he can catch too.
April 30th, 2022 at 2:32 am
I think they will grab a DB here in the fourth. I don’t think they wanted to throw a day one starter into the mix and end up benching Dean before he can truly prove himself. Throwing a 4th rounder in there will add much needed depth without prematurely ousting a starter like Dean who showed improvement when he could get on the field.
April 30th, 2022 at 2:49 am
Jeremy McNicols highlight tape out of Boise was great too. Look where he landed. He was a long stretch and so too is Rashaad. Can’t say I’m overly optimistic. This could end up being Lichts weakest draft.
April 30th, 2022 at 4:41 am
I hate this pick, which could have gone to badly needed defensive help. Even if you want a RB here, there were better, and there are better still further down the board.
Rachaad White is an upright runner who doesn’t use his size and doesn’t use his pad level well. Dances around when he should mow defenders down, and goes down too easily. He doesn’t have much lateral quickness because he’s a high runner. Isn’t really super explosive (isn’t RoJo), a strider. In other words, he’s a lot like Lenny. Highlight reel full of open field runs vs. minimal resistance, so what.
I know many of you guys love the idea of gadget guys, pass catching backs, but a rd 3 for that, and not even the best talent in the draft for that?
April 30th, 2022 at 4:42 am
Herm Edwards compares Rachaad White to Marcus Allen. Yeah, right. I don’t think so.
April 30th, 2022 at 5:22 am
Ronald Jones 2.0
Meh.
April 30th, 2022 at 8:02 am
This guy is just a skip and jump guy. He doesn’t hit the hole hard, he doesn’t break tackles, he doesn’t have wiggle, and he runs too upright. His go to move is to skip through the hole and jump to the side when a tackler arrives. That won’t work in the NFL. He will become only a third down pass catching back. There were much better backs on the board when they took him like Isiah Spiller and Dameon Pierce. I love what Jason Licht did in free agency but he had a bad day today striking out on our first three picks.
April 30th, 2022 at 8:14 am
Lol. Are people really complaining that his highlight film only shows highlights ?
April 30th, 2022 at 9:22 am
I think this pick was made for Brady. A shifty pass catcher with speed for Brady to dump off to.
April 30th, 2022 at 9:54 am
Brady once had a pass-catching back named White. I like this guy’s tape and seems to catch the ball very well. He has great vision and reads his blocking well. My hunch is that the Bucs are going to use the run more this year hence the emphasis on replacing our 2 lost guards, and the Bucs have done just that. White with Lenny in a 2-back set? Defenses won’t know who to defend, opening up play-action and the middle of the field. I like this player and feel like now we have a good stable of backs.
GO BUCS!!
April 30th, 2022 at 12:41 pm
Rojo clone. Yuk
April 30th, 2022 at 4:49 pm
I am in shock, wow there’s B.Hall but we’ll just take another back , what?? I for one don’t really feel that impressed with this whole draft. We just let to much talent go.
April 30th, 2022 at 6:21 pm
Belichick listened to Edward’s 4 yrs ago and drafted N’keal Harry in the 1st round. Guys been a total bust. Take what he says with a grain of salt. Only talking up his players to get them paid
April 30th, 2022 at 10:23 pm
Why would we listen to Herm Edward’s?. He’s the sole reason we drafted N’keal Harry. Look how that’s turned out!
May 1st, 2022 at 1:38 am
People keep talking about having lenny. He has been known to be hurt You need a solid back up. Nothing against Vaughn but he has a problem with drops. If he has good hands he can be used like James White and we all know Brady loves backs that can catch for dump offs. I would of went with Haskins out of Michigan over him but that is just me. He has speed and power as well as can catch.